1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to communicating between software environments.
2. Description of Prior Art
Information services and data processing industries in general have rapidly expanded as a result of the need for computer systems to manage and store large amounts of data. As an example, financial service companies such as banks, mutual fund companies and the like now, more than ever before, require access to many hundreds of gigabytes or even terabytes of data and files stored in high capacity data storage systems. Other types of service companies have similar needs for data storage.
Data storage system developers have responded to the increased need for storage by integrating high capacity data storage systems, data communications devices (e.g., switches), and computer systems (e.g., host computers or servers) into so-called “storage networks” or “Storage Area Networks” (SANs.)
In general, a storage area network is a collection of data storage systems that are networked together via a switching fabric to a number of host computer systems operating as servers. The host computers access data stored in the data storage systems (of a respective storage area network) on behalf of client computers that request data from the data storage systems. For example, according to conventional applications, upon receiving a storage access request, a respective host computer in the storage area network accesses a large repository of storage through the switching fabric of the storage area network on behalf of the requesting client. Thus, via the host computer (e.g., server), a client has access to the shared storage system through the host computer. In many applications, storage area networks support hi-speed acquisitions of data so that the host servers are able to promptly retrieve and store data from the data storage system.
Conventional storage area network management applications typically include a graphical user interface (GUI) that enables a network manager to graphically manage, control, and configure various types of hardware and software resources associated with a corresponding managed storage area network. For example, one conventional storage management application generates a graphical user interface utilized by a storage administrator to graphically select, interact with, and manage local or remote devices and software processes associated with the storage area network. Based on use of the graphical user interface in combination with an input device such as a hand operated mouse and corresponding pointer displayed on a viewing screen or other display, a storage administrator is able to manage hardware and software entities such as file systems, databases, storage devices, volumes, peripherals, network data communications devices, etc., associated with the storage area network. Consequently, a storage management station and associated management software enables a storage administrator (a person responsible for managing the storage network) to manage the storage area network and its resources.
A typical computer network being used today that can run object oriented software is a client-server network, the client being the user (GUI) or workstation and the server being software (discrete or distributed throughout the network) which serves the client. In this network, a computer system can employ one or more object-oriented computer languages such as C++, XML (eXtensible Markup Language), Java, Flash, and/or others. Briefly, an object, in computer software terms, is a dedicated area of memory which can be thought of as an impervious container holding both data and instructions within itself, both defining itself and its relationships to other objects in the computer system or network. Such object or node can send and receive messages to and from other objects, respond and react to such messages (e.g. commands) but shall normally be impervious to internal scrutiny. For example, in a computer data storage system (a kind of computer) each object (system object) may describe or relate to a specific tangible detail in the storage system or in the storage system's processor (e.g., details such as those describing or relating to aspects of operation of the processor's cooling-fan, power switch, cache memory, power supply, disk drive interface, individual disks, etc.).
With respect to networks, people today use the World Wide Web for a variety of different and diverse tasks for example locating information, ordering and buying goods on-line and managing their finances. Many users expect that these applications will operate regardless of what type of computer platform is used.
Java technology, which is a trademark of Sun Microsystems, Inc, helps provide a solution by allowing the creation of computer platform independent programs. The Java technology includes an object oriented programming language and a platform on which to run the Java applications (known as Java Runtime Environment or JRE). Java is both a compiled and an interpreted language. The source code that has been written by the application developer is compiled into an intermediate form called a Java bytecode, which is a platform independent language. At a client machine, the java bytecodes are interpreted by the Java platform and the Java interpreter parses and runs each Java bytecode instruction on the computer. (If the Java bytecode is run as a applet, it may first be sent over the network to the client machine.)
Java's objected oriented programming language is based on using objects and classes and this paragraph will introduce the reader to a few basic concepts. Just like real world objects, software objects consist of a state and a behavior. A software object maintains its state in one or more variables and a variable is an item of data named by an identifier. A software object implements its behavior with methods and a method is a function associated with an object. Just like any other objected oriented programming language objects communicate with each other by passing messages. Further object oriented concepts are well known in the art and will not be described here further.
The Java platform includes the Application Programming Interface (API), which is a large collection of ready-made software components, which provide a variety of capabilities, and the Java Virtual Machine (JVM) which will be explained in the paragraph below. Together the JVM and the API sit on top of the hardware based computer platform and provide a layer of abstraction between the Java program and the underlying hardware.
The JVM is made up of software, which can run a Java program on a specific computer platform of a client machine. Before a Java program can be run on a JVM, the Java program must first be translated into a format that the JVM recognizes, which is called a Java class file format. The Java class file format contains all the information needed by a Java runtime system to define a single Java class.
Adobe Flex is a collection of technologies released by Adobe Systems for the development and deployment of cross platform rich Internet applications based on the Adobe Flash platform. Flex provides a workflow and programming model that is familiar to developers. Macromedia XML (“MXML”), an eXtensible Markup Language (“XML”)-based markup language, offers a way to build and lay out graphic user interfaces. Interactivity is achieved through the use of ActionScript, the core language of Flash Player that is based on the European Computer Manufacturers Association (“ECMA”) ECMAScript standard. A Flex software development kit (“SDK”) comes with a set of user interface components including buttons, list boxes, trees, data grids, several text controls, charts, graphs and various layout containers. Other features such as web services, drag and drop, modal dialogs, animation effects, application states, form validation, and other interactions round out the application framework.
A Flex application may be a rich internet application (“RIA”). RIAs introduce an intermediate layer of code, often called a client engine, between the user and the server. This client engine is typically downloaded as part of the instantiation of the application, and may be supplemented by further code downloads as use of the application progresses. The client engine acts as an extension of the browser, and usually takes over responsibility for rendering the application's user interface and for server communication. What can be done in a RIA may be limited by the capabilities of the system used on the client, but in general, the client engine is programmed to perform application functions that its designer believes will enhance some aspect of the user interface, or improve its responsiveness when handling certain user interactions, compared to a standard Web browser implementation. Also, while simply adding a client engine does not force an application to depart from the normal synchronous pattern of interactions between browser and server, in most RIAs the client engine performs additional asynchronous communications with servers.
In a multi-tiered model, Flex applications serve as the presentation tier. Unlike page-based Hypertext Markup Language (“HTML”) applications, Flex applications provide a stateful client where significant changes to the view don't require loading a new page. Similarly, Flex and Flash Player provide many useful ways to send and load data to and from server-side components without requiring the client to reload the view. To incorporate a Flex application into a website, one typically embeds Shockwave Flash (.SWF) file in an HTML, JavaServer Pages (“JSP”), Adobe, ColdFusion, or other type of web page. The page that embeds the SWF file is known as the wrapper. A wrapper consists of an <object> tag and an <embed> tag that format the SWF file on the page, define data object locations, and pass run-time variables to the SWF file. In addition, the wrapper can include support for history management and Flash Player version detection and deployment.
JavaScript is a Web scripting language and JavaScript source code may be directly included in HTML documents. HTML is a language used to create Web documents. JavaScript source code is typically embedded in HTML documents, by using a script tag, such as “<SCRIPT LANGUAGE=JavaScript>”. A Web browser executes HTML documents containing JavaScript source code. Unlike compiled languages, JavaScript is an interpreted language, which means the Web browser executes each line of JavaScript as it comes to it. JavaScript programs run within the Web browser or other JavaScript-enabled applications to produce the desired results.
A socket is a software entity that provides a basic building block for interprocess communications, and functions as an endpoint of communication between processes. In particular, the socket is an object that identifies communication endpoints between two processes. The socket's API typically hides the protocol of the network architecture or the computer software architecture present in the host processors that the application processes are placed on. Thus, a socket allows the easy association of an endpoint such as an application process, any protocol, or protocol implementation. In the case of Java, a process may be provided that allows communication between a Java code and an executable software file which permits the Java code to receive access to the internal system resources of the user's computer. The Java code is arranged to be configured as a server in the client's configuration, by means of the establishment of a server socket communication channel (“server socket”). Once established, that socket communication channel is used for allowing full ordered, error-free communication between the Java code and the local executable file, thereby allowing the Java code to make use of the internal system resources of the user's computer.
Remote procedure calls (RPCs) are used in many different types of scenarios. In a common scenario, RPCs generally enable a client system to request services provided on a server systems (“RPC server system”). In the common scenario, the RPC server system is implemented to execute a service upon receiving an RPC request, and a client system causes execution of the service by sending the RPC request. The results of execution of the service are then generally provided to the client system sending the RPC request.
XML-RPC is an RPC method that uses textual documents to represent data passed in the RPC. Each piece of data is represented using an XML document. XML-RPC can be used to facilitate communication between a server (e.g., a local server or a central server) and a client machine. In particular, XML-RPC is a simple and portable way to make remote procedure calls over HTTP. It can be used with Perl, Java, Python, C, C++, PHP and many other programming languages. In addition, XML-RPC allows software running on disparate operating systems, running in different environments to make procedure calls over a data network. It is remote procedure calling using HTTP as the transport and XML as the encoding. XML-RPC is designed to be as simple as possible, while allowing complex data structures to be transmitted, processed and returned.
In a broad sense, serialization is the conversion of an object from one representation or format to another. Serialization generally implies a two way process: converting an object from an initial representation to some other representation, and then converting that other representation back to the initial representation. Although at times, converting back to the initial representation may be referred to as deserialization, serialization is a generic term that encompasses both the initial conversion of the initial representation and the subsequent conversion back to the initial representation.
For example, in-memory or live objects may be serialized to persistent or transient objects that are suitable for durable storage or transmission over a network. Currently, it is common practice to use XML as a serialization format for both storage and data transmission. Once stored or transmitted, the XML representation of the object may be serialized (or deserialized) from the XML representation back to an in-memory or live object. The software that performs serialization typically is called a serializer.